October 10, 2004Frogg Café / Miriodor at the Lion D’OrThis is a description of an incredible show I had the immense privilege of seeing last year. Sorry for the lenghty gushing, but it was one of the most enjoyable shows i've seen in a long time!

Arriving a bit early at the Lion D'or club with a friend, Sylvain, we went to the pub next door where we joined Frogg Café's Andrew Sussman and Steven Uh for a beer. Andrew thanked me for giving him a hand at promoting the show by passing flyers at the Musical Box gigs the two days before (perfect target audience!) We then proceeded to the club and selected a table twenty feet from the stage.

Miriodor took the stage first, at around 8:15, and ten seconds after the show started I was completely hooked! What amazing music! For those afraid of the word RIO, these guys are probably the most accessible for the newbie, while still being revolutionnary like you wouldn't believe. A bunch of highly skilled, seasoned musicians that gave the performance of a lifetime.

Not only have I discovered a great band I wasn't much familiar with, but I have become a solid fan. They are simply splendid!

Bernard Falaise's guitar playing is just incredible, squeezing out unimaginable sounds, Marie Soleil fiddled with such intensity at times it was just breathtaking. The very composed Nicolas Masino gave the tone to the entire performance with his powerful, delicate structured, quirky piano playing, in one word, utterly versatile. He also announced the various tracks with much humour.

Pascal Globensky, the soul of Miriodor, created the most mesmerizing sonic landscape on his synthetizers. Rémi Leclerc amazing at creating rhythms so unusual that you can't even describe the time signatures! And finally, Marie Chantal, who wowed us with her splendid sax & clarinet playing, like precise clockwork. What a flawless, tight band!

They Started out with Cruciverbiste, then on to a track from their upcoming album Parade and a track from their much acclaimed Mekano A great setlist that included tracks from their numerous releases, spanning some 18 years. They even covered a great Lars Hollmer track (Lars Hollmer of Samla Mammas Manna will participate in several tracks from Miriodor's next album) Then a great track called Le Sorcier. My favorite was Le Mangeur de Masters (Master Snack) where they really show their chops! then on to The Soldier King and ending with two well deserved encores.

After a ten minute break where we saw the various band member dissasemble the Miriodor setup and assembling the Frogg Café set (there is no curtain at the Lion D'Or...) the little Froggies arrived onstage. A superb setlist that included Creatures with a bit of Waterfall Carnival mixed in. More tracks from the first two albums followed by a great Zappa cover that only FC can render so perfectly. One of their new unreleased track, called Reluctant Observer (and a few more) and then a soaring interpretation of Also Spracht Zarathusta (2001) for their first encore, followed by another encore, the classic Peaches en Regalia by FZ.

I stayed after the show and had the pleasure of having a beer with all the members of both bands and chatted at lenght on their future albums and their tours. Great, friendly human beings with great talent and generosity in time and kindness.

Andrew mentioned that Nick was a bit under the weather and gave out about only 80% on vocals. I didn't notice it at all, because he sounded fantastic still. During Candy Korn, Nick just went into an amazing trumpet solo (or was it a fluegelhorn? I don't recall) that blew everyone's socks off! Even Andrew looked surprised at the splendid performance of his pal.

Great rhythms from our friend James, who shared several drum parts with Rémi Leclerc, like the toms, the snare and the bass drum. Stevie Uh treated us to some wonderful guitar solos and "envolées". Wicked! The imposing Bill Ayasse just mesmerized us with his subtle, yet powerful fiddle-playing, exploding in a frenzy at times! I was grinning with satisfaction! And of course, my pal, my hombre, Andrew, just crazy perfect on the bass. He seemed to enjoy himself tremendously, as all the other members too.

This is by far the best money value/quality ratio I have ever paid. $20 for two masterful performances clocking at a solid 3 hours of mind blowing prog!

Just before taking off, I bought the first Frogg Café remastered album at the concession stand and had it signed by all the band members. What an evening. Arrived home at 2:00 AM and I don't even rembember my head hitting the pillow.